While I was folding clothes this afternoon, my husband asked me why I was doing laundry on my birthday.  “It’s Thursday and I need to do laundry,” was all I could think to say.  “Awe, well you shouldn’t have to do laundry on your birthday,” he said.  No that’s okay, you don’t know it yet but I’m not cooking today, I thought.

I will take laundry over cooking any day.  Okay, most days.  Washing my husband’s clothes can be challenging, depending on the type of job he is on.  I have learned some helpful tricks though.

• Add a couple pinches of salt to your wash water.  Your clothes should keep their vivid colors and wear longer for a lot less than colorsafe bleach.  Bleach is harder on fabric than salt.
• If your laundry soap is almost gone and you have a couple of loads left to do, make it stretch by adding a 1/4 cup of baking soda.  As a bonus, your clothes will smell fresh and feel soft.
• And did you know that rinsing your clothes in cold water not only saves energy, but it keeps clothes from excessive wrinkling and makes them easier to iron?  Now you do!

It was a good day to catch up on laundry because it was a good day not to cook.  Happy Birthday to me!